Terephthalic acid (TA) and other aromatic carboxylic acids may be used in the manufacture of polyesters (e.g., via their reaction with ethylene glycol and/or higher alkylene glycols). Polyesters in turn may be used to make fibers, films, containers, bottles, other packaging materials, molded articles, and the like.
In commercial practice, aromatic carboxylic acids have been made by liquid phase oxidation of methyl-substituted benzene and naphthalene feedstocks in an aqueous acetic acid solvent. The positions of the methyl substituents correspond to the positions of carboxyl groups in the aromatic carboxylic acid product. Air or other sources of oxygen (e.g., typically in a gaseous state) have been used as oxidants in the presence, for example, of a bromine-promoted catalyst that contains cobalt and manganese. The oxidation is exothermic and yields aromatic carboxylic acid together with by-products, including partial or intermediate oxidation products of the aromatic feedstock, and acetic acid reaction products (e.g., methanol, methyl acetate, and methyl bromide). Water is also generated as a by-product.
Pure forms of aromatic carboxylic acids are oftentimes desirable for the manufacture of polyesters to be used in important applications (e.g., fibers and bottles). Impurities in the acids (e.g., by-products generated from oxidation of aromatic feedstocks and, more generally, various carbonyl-substituted aromatic species) are thought to cause and/or correlate with color formation in polyesters made therefrom, which in turn leads to off-color in polyester converted products. Aromatic carboxylic acids having reduced levels of impurities may be made by further oxidizing crude products from liquid phase oxidation as described above at one or more progressively lower temperatures and oxygen levels. In addition, partial oxidation products may be recovered during crystallization and converted into the desired acid product.
Pure forms of terephthalic acid and other aromatic carboxylic acids having reduced amounts of impurities—for example, purified terephthalic acid (PTA)—have been made by catalytically hydrogenating less pure forms of the acids or so-called medium purity products in solution at elevated temperature and pressure using a noble metal catalyst. Less pure forms of the acids may include crude product that contains aromatic carboxylic acid and by-products from liquid phase oxidation of the aromatic feedstock. In commercial practice, liquid phase oxidation of alkyl aromatic feed materials to crude aromatic carboxylic acid, and purification of the crude product, are oftentimes conducted in continuous integrated processes in which crude product from the liquid phase oxidation is used as a starting material for the purification.
Purification of crude aromatic carboxylic acid has been accomplished through hydrogenation. Crude aromatic carboxylic acid is usually pre-heated prior to being fed to the hydrogenation reactor, which typically operates at a temperature of about 260° C. to about 290° C. One manner in which such pre-heating is accomplished is through indirect heat exchange with high pressure steam. The high pressure steam is condensed during heat exchange, and the resulting condensate is then let down to form low pressure condensate and low pressure steam which may be used in other process steps. The pressure letdown allows significant amounts of power to be recovered by feeding the low pressure steam generated through the let down to a condensing steam turbine or other power recovery device.
Despite this power generation, the fuel costs associated with generation of the high pressure steam contributes to the overall variable costs of the process for manufacturing the purified aromatic carboxylic acid. There continues to be a desire to reduce such variable costs through more efficient energy management strategies.